DIWA
IN 2005, 17-year-old Lary Diwa had just graduated from high school when he was diagnosed to be suffering from kidney failure. At the same time, doctors discovered that he was born with just one kidney.
“We didn’t know all along. I did not undergo a newborn screening test. I just have one kidney and now it’s damaged,” the now-27-year-old son of a farmer from Lubao, Pampanga told the Inquirer.
Lary said he prefers to undergo hemodialysis twice a week at the Toledano Medical Clinic and Dialysis Center in the City of San Fernando than have a kidney transplant.
Although both procedures will require lifelong treatment, hemodialysis patients can eat almost anything although in moderate amounts. Kidney transplant patients, on the other hand, need to follow a strict diet, he added.
“The search for a kidney donor is also a long and tedious process,” Lary added.
Right now, he spends P2,500 for every session of hemodialysis. “I am appealing for help from your readers. Any small amount will do. I need money for my fare in going to the center and for my dialyzer (equipment used in dialysis) because each one is good for just five sessions,” Diwa said, adding that a dialyzer costs P1,500.
Lary Diwa can be contacted at 0908-1445454. Donors can deposit their donations in his mother Amelia Diwa’s BDO bank account: (#007400097617).